


saving grace

by naktoms



Category: Daenamhyup | DNH, Just Music Entertainment
Genre: M/M, and not ideal, but hey, this is... kind of messy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 05:50:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5194538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naktoms/pseuds/naktoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Space for rent in a "large but not too large" apartment is just what Siyoung needs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	saving grace

**Author's Note:**

> i was planning for this to be a lot better than it ended up being and now i'm just sad and tired and i want to die  
> people are probably waiting on other fics from me but i started work last week and it's thoroughly kicked my ass, this is literally the first thing i've written since i started x_x i'm dying  
> anyway. i hope u enjoy kudos + comments are appreciated!!!

For his twenty-third birthday, Siyoung gets an eviction notice.

He’s hungover from his birthday party and wakes up when there’s a knock on his door, and despite his splitting headache he still has the strength to shout “Oh, fuck me!” at the orange slip of paper taped to his front door. He’s been entirely unable to pay his rent due to lack of underground gigs and his hours being cut at his daytime job, and his landlord ran out of fucks to give about two months back.

The paper informs him that he has to pay over two thousand in rent by the end of this month or face court-ordered eviction. Siyoung doesn’t even make two thousand in six months’ time, so he crumples up the eviction notice and calls his landlord.

Siyoung is too far gone to care when his landlord picks up the phone. “Fuck you buddy,” he growls, and continues once all his landlord has to offer is an annoyed sigh. “I’m moving out, fuck it, who cares. Give me my goddamn safety deposit back.”

“No, Siyoung, you don’t get any of your deposit back. If you wanted it back, you should have thought about that before you got five months behind on your damn rent. You better be gone before the end of the week.”

With that, his landlord hangs up and Siyoung throws his phone before he can stop himself, then hurriedly gets up and checks his phone for damage (of which there is none, thankfully, because he sure as hell can’t afford a new phone). He eyes today’s date, the eleventh, a Wednesday. He has to be gone by Saturday.

He flops face-down onto his couch and goes back to sleep.

Siyoung’s glad he has friends who are used to people crashing on their couches.

“Okay, but seriously dude,” Jihoon is saying, waving his can of Coke around as he speaks, “you’ve got to find a permanent arrangement. I… dude, I’ve got like, lady friends. I can’t have your nerd ass sleeping on my couch.”

“Fine,” Siyoung says, trying his very hardest to sound as disinterested as possible. “I’ll look through the newspaper or something, Craigslist or some shit. I’m sure there’s weirdos who want roommates.”

“Yeah, sure.”

And Siyoung, to his own surprise, follows through. His top choice is a dude renting space in his apartment described as “large but not too large” for dirt cheap, and he writes down the numbers of a couple other ads as well just in case his first choice has found someone already (or in case the dude turns Siyoung down).

He calls the first number and is greeted with a cheerful, “Hello?”

“Hey, I’m- uh, I’m calling about your Craigslist ad, about space for rent?” Siyoung curses himself for sounding so awkward, eyes nervously darting around. It’s a little too chilly to be standing outside, but whatever.

“Oh, yeah! That’s still open, yeah. Can I get your name?”

“Siyoung, Hong Siyoung. I, uh, I just turned twenty-three. I’m a dude.” Siyoung tries to think of more random things to offer about himself, but decides that he doesn’t want to seem too eager even though he totally fucking is. He doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life hopping from couch to couch, and even if this is just a temporary thing, come on. A hundred bucks a month for a supposedly-large apartment? He’d be stupid for not trying.

“Uh-huh, alright. My name is Hunchul, by the way! Jung Hunchul, yeah. Uh, do you smoke?”

Siyoung contemplates lying, but figures that if he’s going to be living with Hunchul he might as well fess up. “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“Nah. Are you somewhat tidy, or at least willing to help clean?”

“For a hundred bucks a month? Hell yeah.”

Hunchul laughs, and some of the awkwardness dissipates. If this dude can laugh at Siyoung’s attempted jokes, then they’re already off to a good start. “Alright, alright. Any pets?”

“Nope.”

“Any health problems, chronic illness, etcetera?”

“Not that I know of. Smoker’s cough, I guess.”

“Ah, yeah. ‘Kay, how soon can you come visit? I’d like to meet you in person and let you take a look around all in one go.”

“Hell, I can come over this weekend. I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Alright, that sounds great!” There’s the shuffling of paper, what sounds like Hunchul writing down all of the things Siyoung’s told him. “So, the address- well, the address is in the ad, what am I talking about… it’s on the fourth floor, apartment 407. I’ll be here Sunday, anytime after ten a.m.!”

“Sounds good to me, see you then,” Siyoung replies, unable to keep himself from smiling once he hangs up the phone.

Siyoung cannot stop gaping.

It turns out that this apartment building is on the _really fucking rich_ side of town and that the apartment Hunchul is renting is goddamn huge.

“This,” Siyoung begins, and Hunchul stops to look at him, “this is what you’re renting out for _a hundred fucking dollars_ a month?”

“Yeah! I just need the extra little money to cover the electric bill, honestly, I’ve got everything else.” Hunchul gestures for Siyoung to follow him, so Siyoung does, gazing up at the high ceiling in wonderment. “Another reason that it’s only a hundred is because I don’t have a second bedroom. Or, well, I do, but it doesn’t have a bed in it, I use that for my studio.”

“Studio?” Siyoung repeats.

“Yeah! I record songs and produce shit for other people. It’s really fun and also what I make most of my money off of.” Hunchul laughs then, turning around so he can look at Siyoung again. “And, I guess it helps a bit that my parents are also fucking loaded and send me money. I’m also sitting on an inheritance from my uncle once he kicks the bucket.”

“Holy shit,” Siyoung says dumbly. Hunchul nods in agreement, then sets about excitedly touring Siyoung around the apartment, showing him where the bathroom is and telling him that he can, however, put his shit in the studio closet because it’s entirely empty.

“So, what do you say?” Hunchul asks after they’ve made the full circuit and ended up back in the spacious living room. “Will you take it?”

“Will I fucking take it- are you stupid? Of course I will, holy shit.”

Hunchul laughs, seemingly delighted. “Great! It gets really lonely here sometimes, I hope you like it here. You can move in as soon as possible, I’ll help you with your things if you need me to!”

Siyoung, still somewhat in shock that this is only going to cost him one hundred dollars, nods lamely in response. “Uh, yeah, okay.”

“Here,” Hunchul says, shuffling towards the entrance and digging through the drawers of the lampstand by the door. He comes to stand in front of Siyoung again once he’s found what he was looking for and drops a keyring in Siyoung’s hands. “I had a roommate before that moved out once he got back on his feet, so here’s the key I had made for him. You can come by even when I’m not here and start moving your stuff in, I trust that you won’t steal anything too awfully important.”

Siyoung sticks the key in his pocket, nodding. “Alright, I’ll probably start tomorrow?” He turns his voice up at the end, hesitant. Hunchul nods.

“Tomorrow will be fine, yeah! I’ll be home most of the day, I think, so I can help.”

Siyoung leaves shortly after despite Hunchul’s efforts to get him to stay for dinner because “come on, I’ll be staying for dinner permanently after tomorrow”. Hunchul seems so genuinely excited to have a roommate and it’s kind of endearing.

Siyoung cannot fucking wait.

“So, like,” Siyoung begins slowly as he’s hanging clothes in the closet, seeing Hunchul perk up in his periphery, “where am I gonna sleep?”

“Oh, uh… my past roommate just slept in my room. You can sleep on the couch, it’s really comfy, but I promise my bed is goddamn huge. You can build a little wall out of pillows or something, I don’t mind.”

“Dude, for a hundred dollars a month, a little weird cuddling isn’t going to bother me any.” Siyoung says, drawing a chuckle out of Hunchul. Siyoung smiles himself as he turns to grab more clothes out of the box behind him, pausing to eye the production set up on the far side of the room. “Pretty sophisticated. How much all that cost?”

“Uh, it’s close to four thousand all together, I think… I need a new laptop, but I’m a little bit too cheap to pay for one until that one completely dies.” Hunchul shrugs. “It does the job, I guess. You need some help?”

“That’s the fifth time you’ve asked me that in the last hour,” Siyoung points out, and Hunchul apologizes quietly. Siyoung smiles. “Don’t worry about it. S’kinda cute. You can help me, though, by getting me a drink, maybe. What do you have?”

“Soda, water, juice, uh, beer?”

“Soda, please, it’s too early for me to be getting tipsy around you.”

Hunchul heads to the kitchen with a smile, returning with a can of Pepsi. Siyoung curls his nose up but takes it anyway with some remark about how only godless heathens drink Pepsi, to which Hunchul replies that he is a fucking godless heathen and so is Siyoung.

Siyoung decides, then, that this is going to work out just fine.

The sentiment still stands even when Siyoung wakes up at five a.m. with Hunchul drooling on his shoulder, arm slung across Siyoung’s midsection. He can’t exactly complain since he already said that weird cuddling was fine, but he feels some kind of alien fondness for this man he’s known for two days. He supposes that’s only to be expected when you’re sleeping in the same bed as someone, or something like that.

He also rather thinks that this sort of shit only happens in dramas, but here he is, absently twirling a bit of Hunchul’s hair around his finger and then tugging on it in an attempt to wake Hunchul up so Siyoung can tell him to scoot over.

Hunchul does wake up, but instead of moving away he pulls Siyoung closer, arm tightening around Siyoung’s waist. Siyoung sighs and resigns himself to his fate.

Hunchul apologizes the following day when Siyoung tells him about it, but Siyoung (like with most things Hunchul has done so far) tells him it’s fine and that it was kinda cute. Hunchul chuckles.

Hunchul is not always home when Siyoung leaves for his daytime job as a fast food cashier, but he’s always there when Siyoung gets off at five. After a week of this, Hunchul rises the instant Siyoung gets home and pours him something to drink. Today it’s actual Coke instead of the normal Pepsi.

Hunchul removes Siyoung’s hat for him, the one proudly displaying the name of the fast food chain he works for, and brushes his hands through Siyoung’s sweaty hair. Siyoung looks up at him and blinks slowly, tired. “How was work?” Hunchul asks, tossing the hat on the table and sitting down on the couch beside Siyoung.

Siyoung groans, taking his glasses off so he can rub his eyes. “Shit, as usual. I’m so fucking tired.”

“Take a nap,” Hunchul suggests. Siyoung shakes his head. “Here, drink your soda. If you want something else, I can get it for you.”

Siyoung does as directed, taking a long drink and sighing once he’s done so. “You’re too nice for me, Hunchul,” Siyoung says dramatically, shaking his head. “Too good.”

Hunchul laughs, embarrassed. “I don’t do any hard labor. I just… go meet with recording artists, that’s it. So you deserve special treatment, I think.”

Siyoung hums in response, so Hunchul continues, almost nervously. “If- If you don’t mind me asking, why don’t you have your own place?”

“I used to,” Siyoung replies quietly, slipping his glasses back onto his face and letting his head fall back, bumping against the back of the couch. “I wasn’t making much, maybe a hundred dollars a week between rapping gigs and this shitty job. My rent, however, was four hundred a goddamn month, due the first of every month. I got behind like… four or five months. And got evicted.”

“Ah, that’s shit. Well, don’t worry.” Hunchul pauses to pat Siyoung’s knee lightly. “If you ever need to skip on rent, just tell me. I don’t mind.”

Siyoung turns his head to look at Hunchul, taking in his artfully mussed hair and bright eyes. “Too good,” Siyoung repeats. “Too good.”

A month passes, then two months, then Hunchul asks Siyoung if he’ll help him on a song.

“I- what, really?” Siyoung asks in disbelief, and Hunchul nods enthusiastically.

“Yeah! I figured it’d be worth a shot, I’m not very good at heavy trap stuff and that’s what this rapper wants. I’ll split the money with you, he’s supposed to be paying me two hundred for the whole track.”

Siyoung chews the inside of his lip thoughtfully. “Okay, sure.”

So, Siyoung ends up sitting beside Hunchul in his studio, their knees pressed together as they look at Hunchul’s ancient laptop.

Siyoung directs Hunchul quietly to add more bass or take away some of the masking or blend the tracks a bit better. Hunchul executes his orders flawlessly and adds his own tweaks, and in the end they get the whole thing done in just one day and send it back to the rapper to see if he likes it.

Once the email’s sent, Hunchul raises his hand and grins, and it occurs to Siyoung that he wants a high five. Siyoung tries his best, but they miss one another’s hands, pinkies just barely catching. Hunchul laughs and Siyoung is close behind, something light settling in his chest. He realizes that he’s happy, and it’s an entirely foreign feeling to him as of late.

They remain seated in the studio, Hunchul checking various websites while Siyoung stares up at the ceiling. It’s nice, a quiet sort of camaraderie between them even though they’re not doing anything of note. Siyoung realizes, also, that it’s been a while since he’s had a friend he’s actually liked spending time with.

Siyoung closes his eyes. That’s what Hunchul is, right. A friend. The concept is a little strange, for no apparent reason.

Hunchul’s voice brings Siyoung out of his thoughts. “Hey, he replied. He says he loves it and he’ll send me the vocal tracks over to mix tomorrow, along with the money.”

“Great,” Siyoung says, and he doesn’t mean to sound so bored. Hunchul must have learned by now that disinterested is just Siyoung’s default emotion, as he thinks nothing of it. “Hey,” Siyoung says quietly, opening his eyes. Hunchul hums in response. “Are we friends?”

“Of course,” Hunchul replies immediately, and Siyoung nods. “Why?”

“No reason,” Siyoung responds. Hunchul smiles.

“What, am I your only friend?”

“The only one I like.”

Hunchul’s silent for a moment before he nods. “That’s- That’s nice. I’m glad I can, uh, be there for you. Or something.”

Siyoung smiles. “Gross alert.”

“Shut up.”

Siyoung gets his first gig in months and thinks it’s a good idea to get drunk after the show. This ends with him throwing up on Hunchul’s couch and Hunchul mother-henning him in place of killing him.

Everything else is kind of fuzzy and Siyoung can’t really remember anything past hurling once he wakes up, but the smiles Hunchul is giving him are somewhat tight and awkward and Siyoung doesn’t like it.

“Okay,” Siyoung says after his headache has faded somewhat, “what the hell did I do last night?”

“What? Nothing!” Hunchul responds. Siyoung sighs.

“Come on, I did something for you to be lookin’ at me all weird. Did I puke on you or something?”

“Uh, no…”

“Then, what?”

“You, uh…” Hunchul’s cheeks color, and Siyoung sucks in a breath. “You kissed my cheek and told me I’m pretty.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Siyoung mumbles to himself, shoulders slumping.

“I- I don’t mean to be looking at you weird, it didn’t- I mean, you were fucking shitfaced. I’m around enough clubbers to know that you can’t be held responsible for anything you do while smashed.”

“Okay, okay, but,” Siyoung takes a breath, laying his hands flat on the kitchen table, “you are damn pretty.”

“I prefer damn hot, but thank you.”

“Shitlord, take the compliments I give you.”

Hunchul sticks his tongue out at Siyoung and Siyoung returns the gesture. It occurs to him then that he probably would kiss his cheek sober, too.

So, Siyoung does. Not then, but later that week. They’ve got something of a routine by now- whoever comes home first is obligated to get the other something to drink and also make aimless small talk about their days. Siyoung decides to kiss Hunchul’s cheek when he gets home from work, catching Hunchul’s collar when Hunchul removes Siyoung’s hat and pulling him down to peck his skin.

Hunchul stares in shock for a few moments before he blushes bright, laughing nervously. The awkwardness dissipates as soon as it formed and Siyoung decides that it was not a mistake.

“How’s that whole roommate thing working out for you?” Jihoon asks nonchalantly. Siyoung smacks his mouth and thinks of how to respond.

“Fine, I guess. How’s that whole fat and alone thing working out for you?”

“Working out great,” Jihoon says with a grin. “Seriously, though. What’s the dude like? Is the place worth the hundred bucks?”

“Oh, hell yeah it is. And he is, too. His name’s Hunchul and he’s nice as hell, and so is his place.” Siyoung puts his feet up on Jihoon’s coffee table because he’s been to Jihoon’s house like fifty thousand times so Jihoon is used to his hideous manners by now, surely. Jihoon still curls his nose up at the movement. “You wanna know something, Jihoon?”

“Sure.”

“I wanna fuckin’- just- I wanna fuck him.”

“What?”

“I wanna fuck him,” Siyoung repeats, and it sounds less like the joke he intended it to be. “Like… he’s goddamn hot, but he’s- god dammit, he’s so kind to me. Actually, I take that back, I can’t tell if I wanna fuck him or date him. Or just… hold his damn hand. Shit.”

Jihoon nods thoughtfully. “Well. No matter what, good luck with that. If you date him he might let you live there for free, you know.”

“Holy shit, you’re right. God damn.”

“Start with the hand holding, maybe?” Jihoon offers, and Siyoung nods in agreement.

“Yeah, okay. I mean, I already kissed his cheek a couple times… once was when I was drunk.”

“The best things happen when you’re drunk, man. Get smashed again and make out with him, why the hell not.”

“He’s got nice lips, dude.” Siyoung says, and Jihoon makes a face of distaste.

“Look, I don’t want to hear about your gay ass fantasies. Suck his dick on your own time. And don’t tell me about it.”

“‘Kay. You wanna hear if I get laid though, right?”

“Definitely.”

Siyoung puts his desires out of his mind for the sake of friendship until Hunchul’s got somewhere to be and dresses up in his signature sleek black and leather. Siyoung shamelessly stares at Hunchul’s ass, eyes roving his long legs, and Hunchul notices and poses dramatically.

Siyoung laughs, motioning for Hunchul to come over. Hunchul does so, and Siyoung pulls him down to whisper to him. “I’m not in the habit of beating around the bush like an embarrassed high schooler,” Siyoung whispers. Hunchul doesn’t let him say anything else, already closing the distance between their mouths. He kisses too softly for Siyoung’s tastes, so Siyoung vows to show Hunchul how he likes to be kissed sometime or another.

But, right now, Hunchul’s got some friends to go out with and Siyoung’s got some editorials to laugh at. So, all that is for later.

And, later comes with a question: “Do you think all this is weird?”

“Weird?” Hunchul repeats, and Siyoung nods. “I- I don’t guess? Kissing isn’t weird.”

“No, I mean- we’re roommates, friends. Doesn’t that make it kind of weird?”

“Not for me,” Hunchul replies.

“Okay. Just- just checking. Now, I want to show you how I like to be kissed.”

“Ooooo, how exciting,” Hunchul says, grinning. Siyoung kisses the stupid smile off his face, fingers closing tightly around Hunchul’s wrists out of lack of anything else to do with them.

“Noted,” Hunchul breathes once Siyoung breaks away several long moments later. “Those are Siyoung Brand Kisses. Got it.”

Siyoung snorts and moves away, but Hunchul takes his hands in his and pulls him back, kissing him chastely and smiling against his lips. Siyoung supposes that this is a Hunchul Brand Kiss and smiles in turn.

In the end, there’s no need for any of those define-the-relationship questions, none of the stereotypical “so, what are we?” and giggly answers. Instead, they’re back to square one, with Hunchul drooling on Siyoung’s shoulder and Siyoung sighing and trying to get him to move the fuck over. And, really, Siyoung’s thankful for his old shitty landlord, because without his help Siyoung wouldn’t have met this shitty landlord who only asks him for fifty dollars a month now.

Hunchul has spit dried on the side of his face in the morning but Siyoung still kisses him awake and Siyoung decides that, for him, that’s probably true love.


End file.
